Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills reopens

Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills reopened on November 3 following a four-month golf course renovation project and recent ryegrass overseed. It will become Arizona’s first fully lit golf course on December 1 as crews are currently finalizing installation of LED lighting around the property.

The golf and entertainment venue, the flagship location for Grass Clippings’ cutting-edge vision, is also in the process of adding a hilltop bar, a patio bar and renovated clubhouse, an activity lawn and video display, and an entertainment site with full completion of all projects targeted for fall 2024. Tee times will eventually be available until midnight.

Golf course architect Jackson Kahn Design, Grass Clippings director of agronomy Scott Hebert, and Scottsdale-based Casa Verde Golf, a Troon Company, executed the renovation work, which included a newly designed 9th hole, new tee boxes, installation of a new state-of-the-art irrigation system to improve turf quality, and a new 15,000 square foot practice putting green.

The new Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills can be played during the day as an executive-length golf course and as a par-3 (par 54) golf course at night. The course is available for charity tournaments and events, competitions, skins games, or just fun day or night golf with friends. It will soon be a concert venue with weekly live music, markets, and events. Additionally, the Grass Clippings team will soon implement junior golf programming that will extend access to a much more diverse community.

“We’re excited to reopen and show off the progress that has been made on the golf course and the new lighting,” Grass Clippings CEO Jake Hoselton said. “Our agronomy team, led by director of agronomy Scott Hebert, has done an incredible job of improving course conditions and consistency. When we turn on the lights in a few weeks, it’s going to be a game changer for golf in the Valley.”

Grass Clippings is a Phoenix-based modern golf brand founded in 2018. In March 2023, Grass Clippings agreed to a 30-year partnership with the City of Tempe to renovate and revitalize the 93-acre, city-owned golf course, located in the heart of Papago Buttes, two miles from Arizona State University’s Tempe campus. Grass Clippings’ property lease began on July 1 with Scottsdale-based Troon assuming management of daily operations that same day.

Originally designed as a nine-hole course by Milton Coggins in 1960, Rolling Hills features elite topography, elevation change, desert landscape and cheetahs on hole 3 — the course neighbors the Phoenix Zoo. Golf architect Gary Panks added the second nine holes in 1987.